Anyone who is familiar with the NBA knows that today, in the entire NBA league, the proportion of black players accounts for more than 70%. In addition, many basketball stars familiar to fans are also black, such as Jordan, Kobe, Shaquille O'Neal, James... But in the 60s Years ago, American sports leagues, including the NBA, were dominated by white people. Because of the segregation system, minorities, including blacks, cannot participate in professional sports leagues.
In addition to Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream", there is also a well-known coach who was once inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame -- Dan Haskins. The American film "Road to Glory" truly reproduces this history.
1
As a young man, Haskins was twice elected Texas State's Mr. Basketball and was once named the NCAA's Most Valuable Player. After he retired, he also coached the American High School League team and achieved excellent results with 157 wins in 198 games. These outstanding performances earned him the opportunity to coach his hometown team, the Texas Western University basketball team. However, when Haskins took over the team, he found that the situation was not optimistic. Texas Western University hasn't played well in the NCAA for years. As a result, the team cannot attract top basketball talents. When he needed school funding to recruit outstanding players, the school leaders poured cold water on him.
Haskins did not give up, he went to the Kansas Basketball Summer League to find excellent basketball seedlings. However, when these good seedlings heard the unfamiliar name of Texas Western University, they refused without hesitation.
Texas Western is not an Ivy League school and cannot recruit elite white athletes. It is unacceptable for Haskins, who has been soft-handed with various honors before. For his coaching dream, Haskins turned his attention to player selection to black players who could only sweat on the street basketball court. In the United States of that era, it was easier said than done to allow people of color to compete with white people? In the United States in the 1960s, racial segregation still existed in many places, white people discriminated against people of color, and people of color did not trust white people. If you want black people to join the school basketball team to compete with white people, let alone the school dare not take this risk, even these black people can't imagine it. However, as a famous coach with a strong hunger for honor, he used all kinds of tactics. Such as providing full scholarships to blacks without educational opportunities. Another example is to do the work of the parents of black students and earn their trust.
All of this stems from the idea of racial equality rooted in Coach Haskins' heart. He is convinced that blacks can study, live and exercise together with whites, and that black players are no less physically fit than white players. Sports, can Let these black people who have no chance to receive high-quality education because of racial segregation realize their value in life and win the respect of society.
2
It's not easy to do the work of school officials and parents. How can it be easy to make black athletes who are used to playing streetball adapt to regular basketball games? These black players who are used to playing wild ball, who wants to be restrained by the tactical discipline of the rules? In order to make them accept their own tactical ideas, Coach Haskins personally demonstrated and convinced these black players who had never played a regular basketball game.
With this demonstration, the players finally understood the importance of basic skills and tactical discipline. The next step is the boring basic skills training day after day. Dribbling, shooting, defense... Although these black athletes can dominate the street basketball arena, but to participate in regular basketball games, these basic skills have to be learned from scratch. The practice of basic skills is boring, and what makes these black players even more stressful is their studies. In developed countries such as Europe, America, Japan and South Korea, the combination of sports and education is implemented. Athletes receive higher education while training. If you do not meet the academic standards, you will not be eligible to play. In the southern United States, the racial segregation system had been implemented until the 1960s, and ethnic minorities such as blacks had no opportunity to receive education. It is even more difficult for these blacks who have not received the basic education of the system to pass the examinations of the college courses. At this time, someone else started to retreat.
Faced with this situation, Coach Haskins also took great pains. He not only talked to black students, but also talked to their parents. The parents of these black students also cooperated with Coach Haskins. Slowly, the academics of these black students caught up.
3
Under the coaching of Coach Haskins, Texas Western University has transformed from an NCAA belly to a strong team that cannot be underestimated. These black athletes are also good at playing and studying. After successive victories, his performance was recognized by the fans, and the players had long-lost smiles on their faces. However, things can't be all smooth sailing. Under the background of the time, the basketball dream of these black players was destined to be bumpy. When Texas A&M University went to play in the South, a black member of the team named Shedd was beaten by racists and seriously injured. In addition to violence and hurting people, it is also common for the hotels where the team members stay to be sprayed with various insulting words.
Black players had a tough time, and coach Haskins had a tougher time. He himself became the target of racist attacks because he recruited black athletes to the varsity team. His wife Mary has received threatening letters from thugs more than once. In order to support her husband's basketball dream and the great cause of racial equality, Mary has been silently enduring these grievances and never mentioned these things to her husband. He didn't know about it until one day, when Haskins came home. A dignified seven-foot man who couldn't even protect his family, Haskins felt ashamed of his wife who loved him, but he knew that he was doing a great thing. If he is shaken because of this setback, his previous efforts will be in vain. The Chinese say that since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety have been a dilemma. Sometimes, great ideals really require people to give up something. Such as affection. In order to allow blacks to compete with whites on the basketball court, Haskins put his wife and children in a dangerous situation. And when Haskins went to his son's bedside and caressed him, we saw him as a husband, his responsibilities to his family, and his love for his wife and children.
It's a pity that such beautiful days are always short-lived. Everything Haskins did brought him a lot of trouble, and even his wife and children were implicated, but he never thought of giving up his ideals. This is the responsibility and responsibility of an indomitable man to his life creed.
4
Haskins' perseverance was not only supported by his family, but also slowly by the school. With the support of the school, Haskins' enthusiasm for work has also increased, and the team's morale has also increased. In the 1966 NCAA basketball game, the previously unknown University of Western Texas defeated a strong enemy all the way, and joined the traditional strong team University of Kentucky in the final. Kentucky is located in the southern part of the United States and is an important cotton producing area in the United States. Before the Civil War, the local work of growing cotton and picking cotton was mainly performed by black slaves. For historical reasons, racial discrimination in Kentucky is quite serious. At the University of Kentucky, like many American universities at the time, the players were all white. On one side is the rising star Texas Western University with 7 black players, and on the other side is the University of Kentucky, which has 12 all-white players and won four championships in the NCAA before. At the time, the media and Kentucky coach Rupp felt that Kentucky's championship was a sure thing. Although not optimistic, Haskins knows the importance of this game. If West Texas can't win this game, these players are missing more than a championship. To this end, before the game, he made an unexpected decision - to use only black players in the final. For this decision, even the commentary of the game at the time felt incredible. And this game is indeed twists and turns. At the beginning, the two teams can be said to be evenly matched, and the scores rose alternately. At 12:12, the accident happened, and Forney of the Texas Western University team was injured while trying to rebound. Then, David Latin of Texas Western University received three more fouls, and he will be sent off for two more fouls. A series of changes tipped the balance of victory towards Kentucky University. Unexpectedly, Texas Western University, which lacked two main players, led Kentucky in the first half. Seeing that the game was about to be one-sided, in the second half, the University of Kentucky relied on its excellent defense to overtake the score again. At the end of the third quarter, the University of Kentucky actually led by 8 points. The score fell behind and the main team was injured. Kentucky appears to be on the verge of a fifth NCAA title. In the face of adversity, the Texas Western University players unloaded their burdens and overtook the score again at the last moment of the game. Key rebounds from David Latin and free throws from Bobby Joe finalized the score at 72:65 as Texas A&M won its first NCAA championship in history.
The game was over, Texas Western won the final with just seven black athletes, and Haskins and his wife Mary shed happy tears at the award ceremony after the game. Hundreds of days and nights of hard training finally ushered in the glory of the championship at this moment. The film uses about a quarter of the length to show us this magnificent epic duel. Because of this game, the athletic talent of black basketball players has been recognized by more and more coaches. And seven black athletes from Texas A&M University also entered the NBA one after another in the future, becoming the first African-American athletes to play in the American basketball. Although their careers were short, they basically only played as substitutes in their respective teams. But they opened the door for black people to enter the NBA. So today, we can see the wonderful performances of Jordan, Kobe, James and other black players on the NBA arena.
5
"Road to Glory" is a typical American sports-themed inspirational film, and it is a tribute to heroism. In the film, 7 black athletes who pursued their basketball dreams are heroes, 5 white athletes who are willing to be green leaves for the victory of the game are heroes, Mary who supports Haskins' cause and the school's senior leaders are heroes, and Dan Haskins is a hero. s is a hero. At the beginning of the film, Haskins feels stern to the audience, too stern. He will use a large amount of training to polish the basic skills of the players; he will use strict discipline to restrain the sloppy players; he will ask the players with poor cultural foundation not to fall into the cultural class; even if the players are unfairly treated by the referee on the field of play From time to time, he would replace the players who were wrongly convicted of fouls and scolded him severely. As the saying goes, under the strict coaching of Coach Haskins, the players turned their anger into motivation, and gave the racists a powerful counterattack with brilliant performances on the basketball court again and again, and finally got their wish and won the championship, proving that its own value. We often say that poverty alleviation requires intellectual support as well as ambition. This is not the case in the fight for racial equality. On the road of pursuing racial equality, fighters like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mandela need to fight for it, the concept of racial equality needs to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it is even more necessary for ethnic minorities in various countries to establish the concept of struggle to change their destiny. Happiness is achieved by struggle, and equality is achieved by struggle. This sentence will never be outdated.
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